Super Formula

Milestones

National Formula 2000 Championship was created in 1973; five years later, the organizers revised the series regulations in favor of the Formula 2 class, which was very popular in those years. A similar format of the competition lived until 1987 (two years longer than in Europe), after which the rules of the Formula 3000 proved to be viable were adopted.

The next split with European motorsport structures took place on the eve of the 1996 season, when the Japanese organizers did not support a series of measures aimed at reducing the cost of the class and went their own way. In order to further emphasize some of the differences between their championship and the International F3000, the Japanese changed the name of the class to Formula Nippon .

Manufacturers and regulations

One of the factors of the latest split was the reluctance of the organizers to close the path to new producers in the series, creating a monochampion from it. For a long time, several suppliers were simultaneously present in the series.

chassis: Lola , Reynard and G-Force ; as well as a number of engine manufacturers: at first Cosworth engines were very popular, later they were superseded by Mugen-Honda products.

However, in the first half of the 2000s, the organizers were forced to agree to one chassis manufacturer (at this time, Adrian Reynard, Chip Ganassi, and Ken Anderson closed their production). The starting field has turned into a set of identical Lola B03 / 50 cars equipped with Mugen-Honda engines. In order to somehow create technical competition, the teams were allowed to independently modify the power plants.

In 2006, a series of technical regulations changed: Lola Cars introduced its new brainchild - the Lola FN06 chassis; engine manufacturers were two companies at once: Honda and Toyota , whose products were a slightly modified power plant, which was used in those years in the North American championship IRL IndyCar . As before, additional refinement of the motor was permitted.

Members of the series

Despite the equal or slightly more technically advanced regulations of the series, Formula Nippon has always been a slightly less significant competition than the International F3000 and GP2 . As a rule, pilots took part in it, who did not find sufficient funding for the European articulated championships. However, those who chased in Japan later sometimes made their way into Formula 1 and made a name for themselves there. For example, a similar path was successful for two champions in the series - Ralph Schumacher and Pedro de la Rose . as well as one vice-champion - Eddie Irvine .

In recent years, most Formula Nippon pilots have competed in the Japanese GT Super GT Championships in parallel. Also in the series in parallel are many pilots from the FIA WEC championship.

Spectacle system

For the regular stages of the series, a slightly modified point system is used, which was used in the FIA championships from 2003 to 2009. For races of a double stage, their own rules are used, however, the number of places in the test group and the bonus point for winning qualifications for this race is maintained.

• The detailed points scheme is as follows:

• Formula 3000

• Official Website (English) (Japanese)